Erangel, the first PUBG map, is not small - it can't be, if it's going to house hundreds upon hundreds of games over and over again - and even though it can feel like second nature at times, the ubiquitous design of the buildings, trees, and rolling battleground countryside are easy enough to get lost in.

There's also the matter of finding the best landing location for your game, along with where to find the best vehicle locations if you're caught a fair way from the safe zone, and generally the best place to start in PUBG. You'll find answers on all of that - plus detail on things like how to use the PUBG map effectively - in our PUBG map guide below!

PUBG Erangel map explained - Erangel size, details, and how to use the map to your advantage

The map in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is more complicated - and useful - than you might think, at least at first. Before we get into specific strategies, here's the map itself, along with a few simple things worth knowing from the off:

PUBG Map key things to know:

Each large square represents 1 kilometre, and each smaller square within that is 100 metres, meaning the landmass of the map itself is actually only about 6km across.

The map is very detailed, but one or two structures don't show up - most notable of these is the complex of underground bunkers, found in the sixth square from the left, fourth up from the bottom (or F4, for the cartographers out there).

Different areas have different spawn rates for weapons, vehicles, and loot - a lot of players will aready know this, but it's worth remembering that you're guaranteed a better quality of loot at set locations, and planning accordingly. More on how to make the most of this below!

Within those high loot-spawning areas, there are some specific locations which spawn high amounts of guns and weapons in particular, which are worth prioritising if you're going to land in one of these high-risk zones.

You can glide around 1.25 kilometres (large squares) from the plane's flight path (whidch is randomised in terms of direction but always linear) from the point your parachute automatically triggers, or around two full squares if you trigger it earlier.

Markers can be dropped on the map with Right Mouse-Button, which are perfect for coordinating with a team or just keeping track of your own personal target destination, so use them as often as possible. The compass also uses specific numbers for more precise directional tracking, which should again be used for calling out enemy or point-of-interest locations with a team.

PUBG Erangel map best start locations, strategies, and where to land

PUBG interactive map and start locations

Excellent community-made maps are available here and here, which allow you to zoom in and out, drop markers, and show the flightpath and landing distances from within a web-browser.

Alternatively, this map created by user ShatterNL is a great way to visualise things, including specific spawn zones for weapons, loot, and vehicles. The specifics are often tweaked but generally these kind of community maps remain accurate:

PUBG Erangel map strategies and the best place to land

Thanks to that randomised flight-path, there's no definitive best place to start in PUBG. Instead, getting off to a good start is about making the most of the tools you have, planning quickly, and making some smart decisions with the knowledge that you have. Luckily, there are plenty of things to bear in mind which can help you do just that:

PUBG Erangel best start locations for loot:

Military Base - you will almost always find the game's best loot here, but likewise almost always the most people. If it's under the flight path, expect to fight (and die). If not, it's often worth a quick trek there in a vehicle to loot it in peace, but beware of bridge trolls (people waiting for you on bridges) if the white circle isn't kind! The three big buildings in a U-shape house the best loot, but you'll do well everywhere.

Mylta Power - if it's on the edge of the flight path this is an excellent location. Top-level loot, especially in the main green building and surrounding warehouses, and enough for a full squad. Just beware you almost always need a vehicle to get to the first circle.

Small Mylta Power - just to the west of Mylta Power is another, smaller plant with one main building. You'll find very high quality loot here, but in much smaller numbers, so it's better for solo and duo than squads.

School and Hospital - both of these have huge amounts of loot, but at more of a mid-level in quality. School is currently the most popular place to land, so expect to almost always fight and die if you go there. The Hospital is a great shout it it's right on the edge of your range.

Georgopol Crates - the large crates north of the mountains and south of the river, and their surrounding warehouses, have a large amount of very high-quality loot, but are often contested when reachable from the plane. If you can land nearby and drive there it's a better bet, as combat can be tricky. Be sure to climb on top of the crates for the best loot, but beware you're also very exposed!

Prison, Mansion, and Bunker - a trio of good quality, good sized places to loot, each has enough for a full squad, but each is also heavily contested when under the flight path. They make good destinations when you can get there safely though, or if you fancy yourself in a scrap.

Large towns - the likes of Novoreponye, Lipovka, Rozhok, Pochinki, Yasnaya Polyana, Georgopol, Primorsk, and Severny all make great places to loot, but are all dangerous. Look out for warehouses, cafés and restaurants (the glass-fronted, angular buildings), and churches for high concentrations of the best loot.

PUBG Erangel landing strategies

Remember the rough distance of 1-2 kilometres/squares as a guide of how far you can get from the flight path, depending on how high you open your parachute.

Know when to jump by lining up the wing of the plane with your marker. When it's perfectly in line (i.e. when the plane is perfectly at a right angle to your location) then jump.

To get max distance fast, press W whilst looking directly up. That means you're diving forwards, quickly, rather than down or slowly.

You get a speed boost to your parachuting if you're at max speed (234mph) when the parachute opens. Do so by looking directly down and holding W.

When your parachute opens, swing to go further. Do so by pressing W until you've swung all the way back, then releasing so your character swings forwards, then press W again when they're at max distance forwards in the swing, and repeat.

One tactic is to pick a map location with a high chance of spawning vehicles, that's away from any conflict. Hop in the vehicle, and then you can drive to a loot-heavy location well across the map (away from any enemies) and give yourself a good 5-7 minutes to loot it, considering it takes 5 minutes for the first blue ring to spawn, and then a couple more for it to actually reach the white-ringed safe zone.

Use the bar above the minimap correctly to judge how long you have to loot: the timer is how long you have until the blue starts moving; the blue bar fills up the closer the blue circle gets to the white; the white man running shows how far away you are from the circle; a greyed-out man on the far right shows you're already in the safe zone white circle.